Racial slur focus of Jayson Williams hearing

A Hunterdon County assistant prosecutor this morning continued to insist an investigator who described Jayson Williams with a racial slur had no involvement in the ex-New Jersey Net's trial for the 2002 shooting death of a Warren County man.

But a panel of appellate judges quizzed Assistant Prosecutor Bennett Barlyn and defense attorney Joseph Hayden Jr. on whether the defense should be able to use information about the incident in preparation for Williams retrial on reckless manslaughter charges or any pre-trial matters that could precede a new trial.

The lawyers appeared in Hackensack, where Appellate Judges Dorothea Wefing, Lorraine Parker and Howard Kestin heard arguments stemming from the order Superior Court Judge Edward Coleman issued in December granting the defense more access to evidence surrounding the incident.

After that hearing in Somerville, Coleman met privately with the lawyers and reviewed the documents and then granted the defense access to two of them. The documents were the complaint a fellow employee made about the incident and the statement the officer in question gave the state Division of Criminal Justice. That office later substantiated the incident.

While Coleman granted the defense access to those two documents, the defense has been prohibited from using the information to conduct its own investigation pending the outcome of the appeal.

Williams was present for the proceeding, but remained seated in the audience, alongside defense attorney Christopher Adams.

Barlyn said the defense is implying the racist comment of one officer indicates a prevalent attitude within the prosecutor's office, and disputed that notion.

Hayden continued to argue that the information could have been used during the 2004 trial, particularly when the prosecution called a now-deceased lieutenant, who testified that the investigation into Williams was a fair one.

The judges will weigh all the information and issue a written decision.

The issue surfaced as the state was preparing to retry Williams, 40, for the 2002 shooting death of Costas "Gus" Christofi, 55, at the estate Williams then owned in Alexandria Township.

The prosecution accused Williams of recklessly handling a shotgun that discharged and killed the limousine driver.